Crystal Empire (faction)
The Crystal Empire is a collection of Crystals, living beings made of pure gemstone, living in a kingdom made of the same substance and led by the non-Crystal Princess Cadance, Shining Armor and in the future they would have been led by Flurry Heart. The Crystal Empire was established millennia ago, long before the Great Pony War, and remained mostly isolated until it came forth from the corner of the world and attacked all sides of the war, completely obliterating all opposition and allowing Queen Faust to take over. In doing so, they assumed they had destroyed Equestrian Communism, Equestrian Nazism and any other beliefs that "plagued" Equestria. The Crystal Empire is widely despised by members of the Midnight Coalition for a number of reasons, but mostly down to their actions in historical or recent events. For example the Midnight requested the help of the Crystal Empire during the Great Retreat in the Dimensional War, but the Crystal Empire refused to help them which cost over 200,000 Midnight soldiers their lives. The Crystal Empire has outlawed Equestrian Nazism in all of their territories due to the laws that are specifically present to attack Crystal life. Cadance has tried many times to outlaw it globally through the Midnight Coalition, but her attempts always ended with failure and to prevent even more issues, Union cast her from the Coalition and led an attack on a Crystal town in an event known as the Seven-Day War. The Midnight had no trouble capturing the city, and Union handed control of it to Fuhrer Blitzkrieg so she may get payback for all of Cadance's attempts at usurping her. The Crystal Empire had three settlements under it's control at one point. The Crystal Empire itself, Gemtown and an outpost in the Frozen North known as Outpost Alpha. The Midnight captured Gemtown during the Seven-Day War, Stalliongrad captured Outpost Alpha during the Equestrian Civil War and the Crystal Empire itself was captured and decimated by Midnight forces working alongside Marelin and Stalliongrad in an event known as Operation: Shattered Heart. The Crystal Empire is also widely feared by some of the smaller settlements and cities, as their power is nearly equal to that of the Midnight. Their use of super-hard gems and strong Magics allowed the creation of Geodes and Goliaths, which posed a big threat to the Midnight, but the invention of Sonic weaponry gave other empires confidence and hope. The Crystal Empire is powered by a large blue heat-shaped gemstone known as the Crystal Heart, which in turn is powered by the love of the Crystal Ponies. This made the Crystal Empire look cushy and weak due to its dependence on love, but when the Crystal Empire attacked the Royal Automated Arsenal outpost known as A-113, they proved they were more than capable of harming the machines. This started the Mineral War. Important Members Princess Cadance '''ruled the Crystal Empire primarily. '''Shining Armor '''was Captain of the Guard and Cadance's husband. '''Flurry Heart '''was the child of Cadance and Shining, and set to be the heir for the throne. '''King Sombra '''once ruled, but was usurped during the Great Pony War. Enlisted Species '''Crystal Ponies '''were the only species to enlist. Allied Factions '''The Solar Accord '''allied the Crystal Empire. Sub-Factions '''The Crystal Gems '''were an elite unit consisting of six soldiers. Hostile Factions '''The Midnight Coalition '''became the enemy of Cadance following the Mineral War. '''Exodus '''targeted everything in Equestria, no matter who they were allied to. Important DW Battles '''Battle for the Crystal Empire, Crystal victory over Exodus Post-DW The Crystal Empire joined the Midnight Coalition under the guide of Princess Cadance, and they came across as allies for a long time. However after the attempt on Union's life by a Solar Accord agent at Cadance's wedding and the numerous attempts at usurping Blitzkrieg, Cadance was denounced endlessly and cast from the Coalition with the Midnight taking whatever they pleased from her before leaving her. She then created an army to attack the Royal Automated Arsenal as revenge, but despite her army's effectiveness at killing the machines she was defeated. She then joined the Solar Accord for protection. Important ECW Battles Battle for Dublin, Crystal Empire victory over the Midnight Battle for Outpost Alpha, Stalliongrad victory over the Crystal Empire Operation: Shattered Heart, Midnight Coalition total victory over the Crystal Empire Post-ECW After Operation: Shattered Heart, with the Crystal Empire's leaders dead, the Crystal Heart was captured by Midnight forces and experimented on. The Midnight discovered that physical changes to the Crystal Heart would be reflected on all Crystals linked to it, sentient or not. The Midnight then used their technology to turn all Crystal Ponies and the Crystal Empire itself into the radioactive substance known as Tiberium, to be mined for fuel as punishment. The city glowed so bright it was visible from Mareoshima. After the Last Lights, the Tiberium started to die and grow dull, and the Crystal Ponies all began to decay and turn to dust. The Crystal Ponies became extinct after 175 years. Trivia The Crystal Empire is mostly antagonised due to the Crystal Ponies being extremely durable and perfect for fighting, but they rarely fight. Midnight forces tend to have an avid hatred for Crystal Ponies as a whole, and some soldiers have even made enhanced armour out of fragments of dead Crystal Ponies. This armour can still be found in the Equestrian Wasteland over 200 years later.